Races
Humans Most widespread, but less diverse than some other races. Humans from Maurya tend to be darker skinned and physically larger than humans from the eastern half of the continent, but there are no real differences in ability or lifespan. The differences between Shang, Koguryo and Nippon humans are more subtle and only noticed by a well traveled individual. More notable are the physical differences between slave/serf class humans and their noble masters, who are taller and stronger because of their diet and lifestyle. All humans can produce fertile offspring with Asura Asura The second most common race, primarily found on Asura Island and the Naga Isles, are the Asura. The Asura are much more physically diverse than the humans, sporting intimidating and monstrous features. The most common variety of Asura are demon-like humanoids with horns, pointed teeth, tails, typically muscular bodies ranging from five to seven feet tall and skin pigmentation running the spectrum from red to blue. Animal-humanoid chimera bodyforms (like a faun or minotaur) are the next most common. Most contemporary asura have partial human heritage. Like the humans, they are neither inherently good nor evil, but they do tend to live several decades longer. Mlecka The vicious mlecka can only be typically found in the Savage Land. Unlike humans and asura, mleckas live exclusively in stone age bands and show no signs of developing higher levels of social organization or technology. Their skin is uniformly green and their hair typically dark colors, though they tend to decorate their bodies with brown, yellow and grey paints for camouflage. The males are hulking, impressively muscular humanoids that measure over six feet tall when standing erect. Long tusks protrude from their lower jaw. They are almost always armed with weapons of wood, stone or bone. Mleckas are more sexually dimorphic than humans, with the females well below six feet and much less physically imposing. The mlecka show no real signs of linguistic communication or real intelligence. They are reflexively hostile against non-mleckas, and considerably violent among themselves. They seem driven by strong instincts to craft their primitive weapons and find opponents to kill. Yokai Magical creatures that live in the Nipponese wilderness. Yokai come in a variety of forms, from the simply physical to incorporeal or shape-shifting. The most common among them are the tree dwelling tengu bird folk and freshwater kappa. They seem to possess a variety of supernatural powers and for this reason are worshipped by rural folk at village shrines. Some respond well to worship and grant favors to the humans, but most are naturally mischievous, if not malicious creatures. They are generally unwelcome in civilized society. Although keenly intelligent creatures, they are mostly solitary and exhibit no complex social organization. Monkey Folk The Monkey Folk live contently in the Mauryan mountains, but are rarely seen in human lands. Most of their bodies are covered in short hair of various hues, while their faces, chests and stomachs are hairless. They typically stand between four and five and a half feet tall, with lean, light, wiry muscular bodies with faces that are halfway between human and simian. Partly arboreal, their feet are prehensile and grasping, well suited to climbing. Capable of rapid movement over any terrain, Monkey Folk are equally able to walk on two or four limbs, though their legs are proportionally shorter than those of a human. Naga The Naga were an extinct race of highly intelligent creatures with human upper bodies and snake-like lower bodies. Their human halves resembled Mauryans in skin tone and body type, while their snake halves had scales ranging from green to mottled brown with pale underbellies. The Naga population was naturally less than 10% male. These few males were somewhat larger with a more reptilian appearance and scales on parts of the upper bodies. The Naga were highly skilled in magic, but it is unclear to what degree this was a particular natural ability or a developed art.